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For the last four years, I have been exclusively creating and selling my own apps. To me this was the definition of being indie. It wasn’t until I attended Release Notes that this definition started to evolve.

At the conference, I met so many indies, who did not fit my preconception. I met freelancers, book writers, podcasters, bloggers, and people who made their living doing combinations of all of the above. I had been so deep in my own business, I could not see the other possibilities.

“If you can take a nap without asking permission, you’re indie in my book.”

I like that.

Freedom

When you boil it down, the most important thing to me is freedom. I have been using the freedom of the indie lifestyle to benefit myself and my family.

My wife was pregnant with our son when I left my job at IBM to go indie full time.

The freedom allows me to be at home as necessary. I drop off and pick up our son from day care. I stay at home with him when he’s sick. I can go grocery shopping and run other errands to keep the household running smoothly. I try to buy fresh flowers for the house once a week. And I often cook dinner for my wife after she’s had a long day at the office.

I’m kind of like a stay-at-home dad, who also works whenever he has a spare minute.

My wife is now pregnant with kid number 2. She will go on maternity leave in October and likely stay at home until mid 2017[1]. While she gets paid during this time, it will be a fraction[2] of what she currently earns.

I want my wife to have a relaxed pregnancy and enjoy her time at home after the birth. I don’t want her to feel pressured to go back to work before she is ready.

Venture into the unknown

As of immediately, I will begin looking for freelance work. I will continue growing Gus into a sustainable business, but until that time comes, freelancing should add some stability to my income.

I have been thinking about this for several months now and first started talking to other developers about it at UIKonf last week.

Thanks to the people I met at Release Notes, my definition of indie has changed. As long as I still have time for my family when they need me, I will be happy. If I can take a nap without asking permission, I will still be indie.

This new chapter of my indie career also brings about other benefits. I will get to try new things. I hope to play with new technologies that do not make sense to use in a children’s language learning app. I will learn a ton from the experience.